In a new interview, Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters has revealed he doesn’t think Apple Vision Pro is relevant to its subscribers for the foreseeable future.
Speaking with Stratchery, Peters was asked about the absence of a native Netflix app on Apple’s headset. “We have to be careful about making sure that we’re not investing in places that are not really yielding a return, and I would say we’ll see where things go with Vision Pro,” Peters revealed. “Certainly, we’re always in discussions with Apple to try and figure that out but right now, the device is so subscale that it’s not particularly relevant to most of our members.”
Apple does allow developers to port their iPad apps to Vision Pro rather than create new native ones, but Peters didn't explain why Netflix has declined to take advantage of this.
It’s worth noting that YouTube and Spotify have also declined to support the headset, advising users to log into their sites with the Safari web browser instead. Since September 2023, Apple has allowed developers to port their iPhone and iPad apps on Vision Pro by simply ticking a box in Xcode. For Spotify, Netflix, and YouTube to not do this is simply baffling, but this move may likely spur some to satisfy their entertainment needs elsewhere, and with apps like Disney+, Apple TV Plus, and more getting support, there are plenty of alternatives to choose from.
A unique opportunity for Apple TV Plus — iMore’s take
My wife and I have been watching a lot of what Apple’s streaming service has to offer — from Long Way Up, to For All Mankind. These have been fantastic from start to finish, and the quality of Apple's original content and the curation of its titles shines over Netflix's "quantity-over-quality" approach.
Apple recently announced ‘Immersive Originals’ coming to Apple TV Plus on Vision Pro as an exclusive feature. Since rivals like Netflix and YouTube aren't releasing their own apps on the platform, it's possible that Vision Pro users might look to Apple TV Plus for their immersive entertainment fix instead.
These potential subscription changes won’t solely be due to Apple TV Plus being one of the few subscription services to have a native app on the headset either. visionOS will offer plenty of immersive experiences, such as enabling the user to enlarge the display with a pinch gesture, and watching a movie in Apple’s Steve Jobs Theater, thanks to its Environments feature. It's features like these that could spur users to try and adopt Apple TV Plus into their weekly watching habits.
Unfortunately, Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube are doing a disservice to the customers who will be picking up Vision Pro — regardless of how small that market may be to begin with. In turn, this opens up an opportunity for Netflix and YouTube subscribers especially, to switch to Apple TV Plus, and take advantage of exclusive features like Environments and Immersive Video in Vision Pro. It’s all to play for with Apple TV Plus when it comes to Apple’s headset, and it could give moviegoers an amazing experience that its streaming rivals are simply refusing to offer for now.
More from iMore
- Apple Vision Pro's Game Room leaked ahead of launch — Screenshots reveal multiplayer Spatial gaming for the first time
- Ahead of launch, Apple updates visionOS to 1.01 for Vision Pro — but don't expect it to have any brand new features
- This powerful Weather app for Vision Pro will save you from looking out of the window to check
